One More Game
by Azecreth
Summary: Though Mayu was gone, the games had endured. After all, wishes couldn't grant the impossible, and what was more impossible than destroying what had been impossible in the first place? But the system still needs an overseer, and who better than the person who beat the old one, Ruko herself?


**A/N: A random story idea, I suppose this could be seen as something to add to the ending to spring into another season, or for that movie that may be coming out if it's a sequel and not merely a movie adaptation of the anime. And of course this inspired ideas of it's own, so hopefully I'll be getting some more stuff up in the future as well. We'll see.**

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"Hwaaa~"

Ruko yawned as she opened her eyes, waking from the dream that she had been having. It certainly was something of a unique dream, if only part of it. In this dream she had found Tama, Yuki, and Mayu, had been able to meet them again, to play, to have ice cream together. All the things that she had said they would do when they were reunited. And she was happy, possibly the happiest she had ever been.

Then the darkness had come, unbidden and unexpected. The sky had cracked and fragmented like glass as it was stained with eldritch reds and purples. The ground had shaken and torn beneath her feet, and though her three friends had tried to grab her, they had been too late.

She had fallen...fallen into an endless void of blackness, and then she had awoken. It was a very strange dream, and she wasn't about to try and decipher what it meant. But she would still rate it as good overall.

Her eyes slipped open, cracks appearing in her blissful rest, only to immediately slam shut again as she winced at the blinding whiteness that assaulted her. A whine of pain escaped on instinct, before confusion and shock set in to her features as she realized that something was off. White? Her room wasn't white.

So she braced herself before opening her eyes once more, then shifting into a sitting position while that confusion morphed to alarm. Wait, this wasn't her room. Or her bed, as the hard floor beneath her could attest. Rising to her feet, Ruko looked around rapidly as she held a clenched fist to her chest. "Where...where am I?"

Looking around for clues, she took in the bizarre landscape. She was in a hallway, surrounded by walls of white and arches, none of which were flat. Instead plates erratically jutted out, creating a very staggered and chaotic appearance. There were also closed windows, and the hall terminated in a single room with a clear pool of water in the middle.

Confusion faded further away, even as her shock grew. "But...this is Mayu's room!" How was that even possible? Mayu had gone to the real world when she'd ended the games. So how could she be here now? What was going on?

After a moment she began to walk, moving from the corridor she was in to the room beyond. "Hello? Is anyone there?" She called out, seeking some assistance or anything that would answer. There had to be someone else here, right?

Yet even as she thought that, she had no idea who it might be that could help her. And without another LRIG around, was she stuck here? "Tama? Yuki? Mayu?" No answer, to any of her calls.

The room was the same as the last time that she had seen it before the end, closed, shut in, not letting her see anything. And the one responsible for this didn't appear, leaving her to wonder and think in isolation. She hoped this was a dream, but somehow Ruko just knew that it wasn't, and that things wouldn't be the same.

Her exploration eventually drew her to the pool of water in the middle of the room, and she dropped to her knees to better see it in the process. It seemed like a normal pool, yet it had to serve some kind of purpose. She was sure of that much.

Reaching out, Ruko cupped her hands and dipped them in the water, serving as a makeshift bowl as she examined the water held there. It was cool to the touch, but not unpleasant as it slipped through the cracks in her fingers. Still some remained as she lifted them, curious as to what she might see there beyond her own reflection.

Yet that wasn't what she saw. Instead of herself it was another figure in the water, a familiar one smiling at her, with pale blond hair, white skin, wearing a white and black highlighted dress to go with red earrings. Before she could comment on it though a ripple ran across the water from her own motion. When it returned to stillness the image was gone and it was merely herself again, clad in her pajamas.

"Mayu..." Ruko muttered to herself as she let the water drain, certain of what she had seen. Was Mayu the one responsible for this after all? But if she was then why? Ruko thought they had resolved things, and that Mayu had let go. That was why the game had ended in the first place.

With a sigh she rose, looking around again. Nothing. There was nothing here. Only herself and this pool of water. If this was a dream then she desperately wanted to wake up right now.

Merely wishing for it didn't bring her out of this experience, so she turned once more to exploring. Maybe there was something that she had missed. For now she ignored the windows, since she knew what they could do and it wasn't going to help her get out of here or explain what was going on.

Instead she went over to the gates, the ones that blocked other hallways and and rooms that she could explore. Of course there weren't any handles, and these didn't look like the kinds of gates that swung open anyway, but Ruko was determined to try. There had to be something she was missing. So she came to a stop in front of the first gated opening, to see what she could find.

As expected, a corridor of white and light purples and blues extended beyond the black gate that blocked her way. The gate itself was not all that special, with vertical bars and an arch on top that swirled and had decorative flourishes within. A cursory examination revealed that it didn't swing open, as she had thought. It would make doing anything to move it that much harder.

Still, she had to try. This whole situation was impossible, so what was one more impossible thing on top of that? With that in mind she stepped forward and took a firm hold of the gate, noticing how it was warm to the touch. Then she began, grunting with effort as she struggled to move the gate even a little.

"Come on, move. Please," she said through clenched teeth, drawing forth every ounce of will and strength she had. If this didn't work, she didn't know what she would do. Yet for all that effort it stood there implacable, unaffected by her attempt.

At last Ruko gave up, hands dropping as she stepped back to recover. Pants escaped in swift bursts, hot air rushing out from the exertion that had been displayed. "Why aren't you moving," she asked the motionless feature, sadness painted across her face. "Please, I need get through."

That said she walked down the hall to the next gate in the row, which was similar to the first. Maybe she would be luckier here than she had been before.

The beyond looked the same as the first gate, but that didn't stop her from trying. She wasn't ready to give up just yet. Stepping up to the gate she prepared once more, only to be taken by surprise as it shot up with a mere touch. She hadn't even started lifting yet!

Of course, that threw Ruko off balance at the same time, and with a cry she toppled. A solid thud filled the air as she landed on the floor, wincing in pain as she rubbed her pained back.

"Oww," she whined as she rose back to her feet, looking up to where the gate had vanished at the same time. "What was that?" Maybe there was someone here after all.

Still, she gave herself a moment to think on it before shaking her head. It probably wouldn't be solved any time soon, so she went on down the hallway to see what could be found instead. She was eager now, and hoped that things had turned around for her.

It was not far until her surroundings began to shift, the ceiling rising away to unseen whites and light purples, with arches hanging in midair like bridges as the landscape stretched on around her. This place she remembered as well, and she picked up the pace in turn, her hopes rising.

"Hello, is anyone there," Ruko called again as she walked through the wider halls, eventually exiting from inside to a sky of black and dark purple, yet it was still familiar. There was just so much to search, how was she going to look through it all? "Tama! Yuki! Mayu!"

Then at last something did happen. She had just turned a corner to head down another path when a dim sound reached her ears. "Hm?" Her head cocked in an attempt to hear better, sure that she had heard her name. Admittedly she wasn't positive, but it seemed to confirm what she had guessed from the gate incident earlier.

At that point she took off into a run, huffing slightly as her head spun about while looking for the source of the noise. It had to be a person, she was sure. Hopefully she could catch up and find them, before the speaker vanished or moved somewhere else.

She sprinted on, moving along corridors as she looked in the rooms that passed by, still intent in her pursuit. But for the moment there was nothing, no one, just expanses of white and light pastel colors. It sent her heart tumbling, but she went on regardless.

But every failure made her confidence flag, and soon she had to stop for a moment, to rest and prepare to resume her search. If they weren't gone by now then she could spare a bit. It wouldn't be right to despair though, not when she was so close to finding a way out of here.

"Brother, Grandma, Yuzuki, Hitoe," she muttered to herself. "Don't worry. I'll get out of here." That said she decided that it was time to go on with her search, albeit a bit slower. Before she could though, a cry rang through the air.

"Ruko!"

The all-too-familiar shout caught her off guard, and Ruko spun about just in time to get a glimpse of white and yellow before she was caught in a tight, yet welcome embrace by the speaker.

That gave her the chance to get a good look, and her eyes widened at the sight of the white dress, the the white hair, the white and yellow ribbons, the silver eyes, the smiling face. "Tama!" Her happy cry filled the air as she quickly returned the hug, elated to be with her friend once more.

"It's good to see you again Ruko." She glanced past Tama to see Yuki standing there with a smile on her face, looking exactly the same as before she had merged with Tama to become that other version of Mayu. It was definitely a welcome sight.

Ruko's shock and happiness grew at the sight of the other LRIG and friend, even if said friend refrained from joining the hug. "Yuki!" She looked between the two and let reality reassert itself, even as she held on to Tama. "What are you two doing here?"

"We woke up here, just like you did," Yuki explained, certainly calm for the situation at hand. But Ruko welcomed that nonetheless. It was just like her after all.

Well that wasn't exactly the most uplifitng news she had heard, but Ruko would accept it anyway. With her friends here things were looking up now, and she was sure they could help out with this mess. That had to wait for the moment as Tama looked up, silver eyes shining with sheer joy. "I...I'm happy to see you again."

Ruko smiled, not letting go for the fear that if she did, she would wake up and they would be gone. "Me too. I looked so hard for both of you." Then a thought occurred to her, and her gaze flew to Yuki once more. "Wait, what about Mayu?"

After a moment Yuki shook her head, frowning as she gave Ruko the hard truth. "We haven't seen her here." It was a painful admission and Ruko's heart fell at the news. It seemed she was wrong, though she had certainly hoped otherwise.

At last Tama got her fill of hugs and the girl let go while moving to Ruko's side, seemingly also serious in her desire to stay together. Ruko basked in the warmth of the presence of her friend's company, the sheer joy of their reunion even if it was in strange circumstances.

Soon enough though she moved on with the conversation. "Do either of you know what's going on here?" It was her main hope, since she knew that they had a better chance of having an answer than she did.

Smiling faces fell then as Tama and Yuki both bowed slightly. "Not for certain," Yuki admitted. "But we have an idea." Well that was good, though it did not seem like it would be entirely satisfactory either.

Tama picked things up then, bringing in some of the explanation. "I think...we couldn't get rid of the games. Whatever let Mayu do it is still around."

Yuki nodded in agreement with that as Ruko's heart fell all the further. "But...why am I here? Why are you two here? My wish was granted." Did this mean that people would be forced to suffer again, forced to battle and be trapped in cards for someone's sadistic amusement? Was all her work meaningless?

At least she got the feeling that the others didn't like it either, as Yuki proposed her theory. "The Selector matches were never set up to grant impossible wishes, only those that could be done in a normal world. It couldn't do things like heal the terminally sick, or bring back the dead. That was how the game worked."

All of that Ruko knew perfectly well, and while it made sense on some level, it didn't explain everything to a point she was comfortable with. This she voiced as she replied to Yuki. "What about the wishes being reversed though? How was that possible?"

"I don't know," Yuki admitted in turn, seemingly as disturbed by it as she was. "That's just the way it is for now. I don't think Mayu really knew either."

With that said Ruko then addressed the other part of her concern, related to the white haired girl standing beside her. "But you said that you could grant my wish," she pointed out. Tama wouldn't have lied to her, not again. Right?

Tama winced, averting her own eyes as shame filtered across her features. "I...I did. I thought I could." It wasn't hard for Ruko to tell that she was really beating herself up about it, a punishment that didn't seem fair with everything that she had done over their time together.

"But we did," Ruko objected fervently, if only to abate her friends sadness. "Yuzuki isn't an LRIG anymore, and Fumio is back from wherever she went. Even Anne is gone! So even if this place is still here, we did what we wanted to do."

Yuki interjected then, keeping them grounded as always. "Not all of it," she noted as she turned towards the white staggered plane. "If we did, this place wouldn't exist. Even if it shouldn't exist to start with."

The brunette girl tried to ignore the dark sky overhead as she followed that tangent of thought along in it's course. "Yeah, how is this all here anyway? Mayu couldn't have done it herself, not with it involving other people." Seriously, even by the standards that she had grown used to it was beyond odd.

"We don't know that either," Tama admittedly despondently. Well then, that was something that they would need to look into and try to figure out if they could. For now there were more pressing concerns to be dealt with, by all three of them.

Ruko smiled, patting Tama on the shoulder. "It's alright. I'm sure we'll figure it out." She then moved on to next concern that she had, which she addressed to the both of them. "Do you think I'll be able to get home?"

Fortunately Yuki nodded after a moment of contemplation. "Mayu could move between here and her room when she controlled the Selector matches. If you're still alive out there then I think you should be able to." It was just a matter of figuring out how.

"That's good," Ruko replied, letting out a sigh of relief. She wouldn't have to worry her family or friends by a protracted absence. As for figuring it out, with Tama and Yuki here it wouldn't be that difficult. She was sure of it.

At that moment Tama shifted closer to her, her grip on Ruko's hand tightening with interwoven fingers. "Ruko won't leave us alone. She'll visit us, right?" Her eyes seemed to shimmer with the promise of impending tears, earning confusion from her friend.

Ruko returned the gesture just as tightly, as she provided the wanted reassurance. "Of course I will Tama. You're my friend, and I wouldn't abandon you." Then she cast a worried look to her other LRIG, seeking an explanation for whatever it was that Tama had meant.

She needn't have worried though, as Yuki picked up the unanswered question without much effort. "We aren't alive out there." she said succinctly, albeit quietly and much to Ruko's shock. "Impossible wishes aren't allowed, and that includes making a body and life from nothing."

"What?" Ruko wasn't sure how to react, her body freezing as she stood there with wide eyes It just...It didn't make any sense! How were they supposed to have fun together, or go shopping, or have ice cream, if her two friends were trapped in this terrible world again? How was that fair after everything they had been through?!

Then came a spark of realization as she shifted on her heels. There had been something she was missing after all. "Still...if you're not alive, then how can you be here? If my wish hadn't worked fully you both would have faded away like Mayu." Not that she was complaining about it, but it seemed relevant to the situation at hand.

"We aren't kept around by Mayu anymore," Tama told Ruko as she wiped at the corners of her eyes with the back of her hand. "We're here because of you now"

"M-ME?" Ruko stammered in disbelief. Was this because she had beaten Mayu before? To learn that her friends were here because of her, that their existence depended on her, it was a daunting and terrifying prospect. Yet, she would not let that stop her. "What about Mayu?

She could hope, but just as before there was no information in that particular area. "We don't know," Yuki replied. "But since we haven't seen her here, we can only assume..."

That earned more sadness, but Ruko vowed to keep up hope. It wasn't impossible, and that was good enough for her. "I'm sure we'll find her," the brunette asserted with no lost vigour. "If you're here because of me then she will be too." She had wanted to be friends with Mayu as well, after all.

Tama smiled and nodded, arms swaying as she was buoyed by her friends confidence and belief in their success If anyone could do it, it would be Ruko. "Yep," she agreed. If Mayu was still out there, then they would find her and grant her wish.

Even Yuki couldn't help but smile, taken by the passion and determination that Ruko showed. It was just like her. "We'll both do what we can to help you," she accepted, hardly opposed to this decision.

"Thank you," Ruko replied happily, grateful for the support. Together, she knew they could do it.

At that point the two LRIG's shared a glance before they moved, Tama pulling Ruko forward. "W-Wait," Ruko protested even as she struggled to keep up, only to be silenced by the look that her friend gave her, that eager anticipation like she was about to go into an LRIG battle that drove her on.

Yuki followed along behind as they ran, the sound of feet on the floor ringing through the area. She knew where they were going, and she had the feeling that Ruko would appreciate it, given time.

"Where are going," the girl in question asked, following along without any choice in the matter. Tama didn't answer that though, leading her on to their destination, and Ruko resigned herself to finding out when they got there.

Pulling her into a large room, Tama came to a halt at last before stepping to the side. Ruko would have said something then, were it not for what she saw. Her eyes widened as she moved forward, taking it all in.

And there was a lot to take in. While the room was large, it also had more than a handful of people inside already, most of whom were busy chatting with each other rather than looking at her. They were of all sizes and appearances, some tall, some short, some black, white, red, blue, with a variety of clothing. It wasn't hard to tell that these were all LRIGs.

"W-Who are all these people," Ruko asked as her gaze swept the crowd, nervously clutching her hand to her chest as she took a step back. How had she not seen or heard them in this place before?

Tama did her best to console Ruko, hands clasped behind her back as she spun around, stepping closer to the crowd in the process. "They're LRIGs. Like us." Ruko had guessed that already, but she wouldn't contest the statement.

From behind Yuki approached, moving to Ruko's side as she looked out on the crowd as well. "These are all the girls who can't return to their former lives, who have no bodies to return to or simply can't go back to being human again."

"That's terrible," Ruko muttered, bowing her head in the sadness that threatened to crush her. To be stuck here, just like Mayu had been, to simply be forced to fade away with nothing to look forward. She couldn't imagine what it was like. "What are they waiting here for?"

The gray LRIG smiled as she let a hand come to rest on Ruko's shoulder, providing an answer while gesturing to the crowd. "They're waiting for you. To tell them what to do and what's going to happen to them."

Shock warred with astonishment and fear as Ruko looked up at Yuki, her feelings reflected in her eyes and her expression. "Me? But I don't know what's going on either. Why don't they listen to you, or Tama?" Certainly her friends seemed more qualified than she was for this sort of thing.

Tama stepped up to Ruko then, taking her hands as she presented her case. "You beat Mayu," she pointed out. "That makes you her successor. Until we can stop this for good."

"Don't worry," Yuki added of her own accord. "We'll still be here to help when you need it. And I'm sure Yuzuki and Hitoe will as well." They wouldn't leave her to handle all this by herself. After all, as the Girl of Black and the Girl of White, they knew this realm the most by far. Their help would be essential if this was to work out.

While Ruko merely smiled, a sense of relief flowed through her at the reassurances, glad that she had her friends with her once more. She needed them just as much as they needed her in the end. All these people were counting on the three of them, so she would do her best to not let them down.

"Come on, say something," Tama urged, spinning and pushing Ruko forward and towards the crowd with a laugh. The brunette stumbled, glancing back at the other two before she turned to the milling group of people once more.

She took a deep breath to marshal her courage, and in that moment it occurred to her, what she had to do. She would do what she could to help people, both to return these LRIGs to the real world, and to have them help other people in the meanwhile. She, Tama, Yuki, and the others would investigate this place, figure out where it came from, and then end the games for good. This much she vowed.

"Excuse me everyone," she called as she rose on to her tiptoes. "Excuse me! I need to talk to you." She waited patiently until they had all turned to look at her, the various conversations fading away in the process. Once it had, a smile blossomed as the girl began.

"Hello, my name is Ruko Kominato, and...I'm the new Game Master."


End file.
